The fastest and most decorated female sprinter in Section 4 needn’t but a split-second to identify The Day, the one to top all.

March 2 at Ocean Breeze Complex on Staten Island was the day of Tia Jones’ gratifying breakthrough, the occasion when a contender for top honors in New York track & field became a state champion.

Thing was, a moment of confusion delayed the long-awaited joy.

Jones, Vestal senior and holder of six sectional track records, zipped through the 55-meter dash final in 7.2 seconds. But upon completion as she peered up at an automated display of results, something was amiss— and set in motion a surreal emotional somersault.

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Tia Jones of Vestal during the STAC Track and Field Championships, Vestal High School, May 17, 2018.(Photo: Kate Collins / Staff photo)

“The board they had was messed up, it showed places wrong. It showed that I’d gotten second-to-last and that’s what I looked at,” she said. “I walked off and started crying. My coach asked, ‘What happened? You won!’ And I started crying more.”

But more, as in tears of delight and satisfaction and all that accompanies achievement against the best of the state’s best public-school runners.

“That was amazing, the best day of my life,” she added. “I’d been working so hard. Four years, I’d been waiting. It felt really good.”

Jones has not been a decade-long fixture on the Southern Tier track scene, it just seems as if we’ve watched that amalgamation of grace and power and dashing speed with the beautifully flowing braids bobbing in her wake for that long.

She tops Section 4’s record charts in five individual events and one relay, has competed in indoor and outdoor state championships since 2015 and been awarded 25 medals in those meets— proportionately divided, 12 under cover and 13 in the elements. Her name is attached to eight Vestal records. She has run in nationals and Milrose Games indoors, and nationals outdoors.

“I don’t know of anybody who has been as dominant as her in girls track as long as she has,” said Jim Cerra, long-time Golden Bears coach. “It’s just been amazing the accolades she’s had.”

Jones’ resume is topped in significance by that state title.

Presently, that is, because there is her final high school season with which to update.

The gal who began competitive running as a middle schooler favoring the 800 transitioned to sprints upon her promotion to varsity. The 100 and 200 are where she has settled individually, but she especially fancies the 400 and 1,600 relays. “There’s more adrenaline, people are yelling, someone is either in front of you or behind you pushing you so it makes it so much better,” she said. “It’s a team thing, so everyone is involved.”

Loving a push

Jones has run an 11.98-second 100, acknowledged as Section 4’s record over a 42-year-old, hand-timed 11.95 by Horseheads’ Patty Frost. Her best came as a freshman in the 2016 state meet at Cicero-North Syracuse. That was in a preliminary, and she proceeded to a fourth-place large-school finish. The Section 4-record 24.39 200 was run that same weekend, in a race headed by Rush-Henrietta sophomore Lanae-Tava Thomas— who’d go on to state-championship sprint doubles as a junior and senior.

Competition, clearly, does wonders for speedy chasing even speedier.

“There are definitely more nerves but it helps to think there is someone faster than me so that means I can use them as a way to push myself to go faster,” she said. “If they’re running in front of me, of course I’m not going to stop running, I’m going to try harder to at least reach them.”

But short of running side-by-side with that caliber athlete, Jones was asked, how does one become the fastest female in any Section 4 venue she has visited for years? For one, she does a fair bit of research, dissecting video of the best out there. See how she bolts from the blocks? See that arm drive? The posture? But, moreover is the athlete’s equivalent of good old elbow grease.

“I feel like it’s the work you put in. You have to put in a lot of work and you have to actually like what you do and be dedicated,” she said. “It can’t be like a one-time thing and you expect to be fast, it takes a while. You have to work hard. It takes a long time to be good at something. I’m not taking a week off and expecting to come back faster than ever, it doesn’t work like that.”

Running through pain

Those who’ve been on hand to see Jones compete have witnessed her on the infield turf between races, shoes off, at times with a hitch in her giddy-up. It’s the way it is when pain enters the equation, not enough to preclude competing but most certainly sufficient to command her attention.

The root of the issue was a bone spur in the right foot, which she had surgically repaired sophomore year. She did the requisite walking-boot thing and time going about with crutches. However, she seldom if ever races without screaming reminders of that setback— and perhaps no coincidence she’s not gone ahead and lowered those freshman-season 100 and 200 clockings.

“Every time I run, it’s the constant pounding and the pain shoots right up to where I had the surgery,” Jones said, pointing to the top-middle of the foot. “Every time I hit the ground that’s all I feel.

“I just try to think about something else, or else it’s going to slow me down. It sounds complicated but that’s what I’ve learned to do. I realized that when I’ve thought about it my times got slower. It’s like I slowed down to try to stop the pain but … ”

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Vestal senior Tia Jones(Photo: Kevin Stevens / Staff Photo)

Mind over matter has translated into a fetching collection of accomplishments, including league and section championships across a handful of events. But who knows how the resume would read if she were operating on 100-percent healthy wheels?

That blazing feeling

Covering 100 meters in a shade under 12 seconds or 200 meters in 24-and-change equates to roughly 18½ miles per hour— blasting off from a stationary, crouched start in the blocks.

Ordinary individuals would require a bicycle or some means of motorized assistance to achieve that kind of speed.

Jones is gifted, something far beyond ordinary.

Countless races and immeasurable hours of preparation have enabled her to be in tune with her body, to know even before she grabs a glimpse at a readout or is informed of her time by an official whether it has been a satisfactory showing.

“Definitely. Depending on how the weather is or how my foot is, I can tell while I’m running— ‘I did really good’ or ‘That was the worst time I’ve run the entire season,’ ” she said.

Ah, but on those days the stars align, the body and conditions cooperate?

“It feels amazing, actually, because you know all the work you did has paid off,” she said. “You can feel it and everyone is cheering so that makes it so much better. It paid off. You did something right and you know you’ve done it right.”

The desired send-off

Work is ongoing to maximize potential between the present and when New York’s high school track & field season concludes with June 7-8 state championships at Middletown High School.

Jones’ ascent to the awards platform’s top step last month on Staten Island figures to serve her well psychologically as she pursues greater heights. That day, she earned the public-school title by 1-100th of a second over fellow senior Jenna Crean of Orchard Park. In fact, the top four NYSPHSAA finishers were within 4-100ths of one another.

“Half of it was relief because finally I did that, so there’s not that pressure on my shoulders to get that,” she said of the 55-meter title, medal symbolic of which is proudly displayed in her bedroom.

Her aim, before moving on to compete for a to-be-determined collegiate program?

“I want to be state champion in the 100. I’m obviously going to work hard for that, but you never know,” she said.

From 2001: Binghamton's Micquelle Everett, left, Vestal's Brittany Walker, center, and Binghamton's Katie Costello, right, all go for a rebound under the Binghamton basket during the second quarter of Fri night's game in Vestal. File photo

From 2001: Vestal's Jamie Scordino, left, and Union-Endicott's Cara Johnson, right, both go up for a rebound under the Tiger's basket late in the second quarter of Friday night's game at Binghamton High School. File photo